NEWBORN babies in Scotland are being tested for alcohol amid concern that expectant mothers are drinking too much while pregnant.

Experts at the Princess Royal Maternity Hospital in Glasgow have started collecting samples to test for molecules of booze which stay inside unborn babies.

The Herald reports how early results suggest 42 per cent of mums drink alcohol while pregnant while around 15 per cent drink more than one to two small glasses of wine a week.

Consultant neonatologist Dr Helen Mactier, who is leading the work, said: “There is an assumption that all problem drinking in pregnancy is associated with poverty and there is no evidence to confirm that.

“It is much easier to conceal problem drinking if you are affluent and if you are clever.”

Health advice is for pregnant women to avoid alcohol entirely.

Dr Mactier added: “Alcohol is a small molecule so it crosses the placenta easily. It can be in the amniotic fluid, it can be in the blood. The foetus metabolises alcohol the same as it gets sugar and protein.”